Former Red Sox Pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd Really Liked Cocaine
By Tim Ryan
Boyd admitted to being under the influence of cocaine two-thirds of the time he was on the mound:
“Oh yeah, at every ballpark,” he said. “There wasn’t one ballpark that I probably didn’t stay up all night, until four or five in the morning, and the same thing is still in your system. It’s not like you have time to go do it while in the game, which I had done that. Some of the best games I’ve ever, ever pitched in the major leagues I stayed up all night; I’d say two-thirds of them.”
Fantastic. The reckless baseball atmosphere of the 70s and 80s will sadly never be topped. Players these days are saddled with the reality of random drug testing, forcing them to chew sunflower seeds and attend gym openings with muscular women.
Old “Oil Can” went on to say he was never tested for drugs during his entire 10-year career. He also felt he never received the empathy and sympathy that players like Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden were privy to because he was an “outspoken and a so-called ‘proud black man.'”
Speaking of Gooden, if we’re talking all-time pitching staffs in terms of debauchery both during and after games, it has to go something like this: Doc Gooden, Oil Can Boyd, David Wells, Denny Neagle, and Steve Howe.
[via Boston.com]